Stacking two or more housings in banks; i.e., in both vertical and horizontal directions, have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,970, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Therein, each housing contained lateral cutouts; i.e., semi-circular grooves extending down each side, which formed circular openings when two housings were placed side-by-side and latched together by means of tongues and grooves. The housings were then locked together so as to prevent longitudinal displacement one with another by means of a rod passing through the circular openings and secured therein by frictional means or otherwise. Obviously, the locking system requires components external to the housings; i.e., the rods. Further, in the event the rods have matable parts e.g., a nut and bolt arrangement, tools are required to lock and unlock the assembly. Also, in a bank of several housings, a single housing cannot be separated therefrom or added without undoing the entire system.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide electrical connector housings having integral locking means which secure adjacent housings together.
It is another object of the present invention to provide electrical connector housings having integral locking means that do not require any tools.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide electrical connector housings having integral locking means which permit the removal of a single housing from anywhere within a bank without disturbing the remaining housings and also to add a housing to a bank without disrupting the other secured housings.